Means for identifying book contents



Oct. 14, 1941.

F. E. FLEMING, JR 2,259,203

MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING BOOK CONTENTS Filed Aug. 2, 1940 @Zgs Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS Fon IDENTIFYING Boos. CONTENTS Y Frank E. Fleming, Jiiet, l'il.

Appiicacionnugust 2, 1940, serial No. 349,742 2 Claims. (Cl. 283-40) This invention relates to a means of identifying book contents and more particularly to an arrangement by which books, the contents of which are arranged in progressive form, as in directories, encyclopedias, and the like, may be readily provided with means for locating particular contents thereof.

There are many types of books which have their contents arranged in progressive order. This is particularly true of city directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the likel Up to the present time the only Widely used method of locating particular contents has been the use of index markers cut into the opening edge of the book or tabs fastened thereto and extending out therefrom` Both of these methods involve a great deal of expense. The cut-out markers require careful hand control of a number of machine operations, whereas the tabbing method requires considerable hand labor.

'Ihe present invention provides means by which the contents of a book may be located very readily and which may be attached to a given book in as little as two operations with great simplicity.

The invention is illustrated in the drawing in which Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a directory with the opening edge of the book toward the front; Fig. 2 represents a similar view of a modified form of the book; and Fig. 3 is a view of a modified form of locating means.

As shown in the drawing, a book I which has its contents II arranged in progressive order is supplied with identifying means I2 which are fastened near the edge I3 of the cover I4 which is adjacent to the opening edge of the book. In the particular instance selected, the contents of the book are arranged in alphabetical order and, therefore, the identifying means is also made up in alphabetical order. The spacing of the letters in the identifying means is made to correspond with the contents of the book. As will be seen, the letters A, B and C are widely separated, whereas the letters E and F are much closer together, and the letters W, X, Y and Z are actually placed together.

The letters upon the identifying means may be printed on a strip I5 of material similar to the material of the cover and of course may be affixed to each book, of any type, by a simple operation.

'I'he identifying marks upon the strip I5 may be applied in any form. While printing is the simplest form of mark, the identifying means can be of any other form and substance. The

size adtliiokness of the body constituting the identifying means is immaterial except that a letter of substantial thickness is to be avoided Wherever possible,

The locating of the particular contents of the book is then completed by a locating means I6 which is associated with the adjacent opening edge of the book. This comprises an edge which may be a separate structure Il, as shown in Fig. 3, which may be afxed to the lower cover of the book I0 by the adhesive tapes I8 and I9 and folded up into position when desired. More simply, however, the locating means comprises a flat or raised line along the opening edge of the book which may be formed thereon by a cutting, printing or other operation. For example, half of the opening edge of the book may be undercut as indicated at 2| in Fig. 2, or the line I6 may be printed flat upon the opening edge of the book.

The method of operation of the marking system can best be illustrated in connection with Fig. l, If a reader Wishes to locate the letter G in the directory, he places his finger over the letter G on the top cover and then runs his finger along a line projected perpendicularly across the opening edge until he reaches the line I6, at which point he opens the book. The identifying means are arranged or printed on the cover in such manner relative to the locating means on the opening edge, and with respect to the contents of the book, that the contents having the letter G will be located at this point. If desirable, the perpendicular projection may be marked upon the opening edge as shown at 22 in Fig. 1, or its point of crossing the line I6 may be indicated by a short line as shown at 23 in Fig. 1.

The invention can of course be used on books which do not have covers of different texture from the contents of the book, in this case the outer sheet being considered as the cover. In some cases the identifying means may be placed on an inner cover or page, which, in the claims hereof, will in such cases be considered as a cover for anything beneath it The indexing system may also be used on both the back and the front of the book, using one or more locating means I6. The locating means I6 may be solid or discontinuous and it may be at, raised or lowered. Examples of both raised and flat lines have been given and a lowered line may be produced by notching the edge of the book diagonally to produce a groove.

In some instances it may be desirable to afx the identifying means to the cover of the book at the printers, and then have the reader of the book supply the locating means either by ruling a line diagonally on the opening edge or by using a removable or pivotally mounted means such as that shown in Figure 3.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A book having covers and having contents of substantial thickness arranged in progressive order, means identifying the progressive order arranged along an edge of a cover of the book adjacent to the opening edge, and locating means arranged on the adjacent opening edge of the book, said locating means including a removable plate having an edge portion extending diagonally across the opening edge portion of the book,

said plate adapted to arrest the finger of the reader when the nger is projected from the identifying means on the cover to the corresponding point on the diagonally extending edge of the plate.

2. A book having covers and having contents of substantial thickness arranged in progressive order, and means locatedalong the opening edge of the book for identifying the progressive order including a plate secured to one cover of the book and having an edge extending diagonally across the opening edge from a corner adjacent one cover of the book to a corner adjacent the other cover of the book, there being means associated with the plate for identifying the progressive contents of the book and the plate being adapted, in combination with such identifying means, to arrest the finger of the reader at the 

